Why I Am Catholic
I’m of the mind that this is good news. Cecile Richards, on the other hand, probably doesn’t think so.
A federal appeals court ruled late Thursday that Texas’ abortion restrictions could immediately go into effect, overruling a Monday order from a lower court that found parts of the law unconstitutional. The decision, made by a panel of three judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, may close the doors of one-third of Texas abortion clinics, many which will likely be unable to meet the requirement of admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Of course, that was the point of the law.
The court ruled that the admitting-privileges provision may go into effect, arguing that it has a valid medical purpose of protecting patient safety.
“Today’s decision affirms our right to protect both the unborn and the health of the women of Texas,” said Governor Perry in a statement responding to the ruling. “We will continue doing everything we can to protect a culture of life in our state.”
The opinion, written by Judge Priscilla Owen–a well-known opponent of abortion rights–for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissed the district court judge’s finding that setting up medically unnecessary requirements would constitute an “undue burden.” That is the Supreme Court’s upper limit for how much a state can stand in the way of a woman seeking an abortion. Owen found the evidence presented by the state to be persuasive.
Imagine a world where we didn’t callously kill the unborn. Where we didn’t see doing so as a solution. That would be a different world, a different nation, from the one we inhabit.
Imagine a nation that loved all its children so passionately that it built an entire social and economic structure around protecting them, nurturing them, fostering their growth, and supporting their every stage of life. The logic of this care for children would, of course, extend to the conditions by which those children entered the world. The nation would first care about young adults and their sexual choices.
Young men and women would enter adulthood with a profound sense of how important the roles of mother and father are, and would shape their desires for relationships in large part around their roles as caretakers of children. They would receive powerful cultural messages that parents are the primary creators of community, and they would therefore be reluctant to engage in a serious relationship that did not have a basic commitment to the well-being of children. Young women would develop a strong sensibility that motherhood is a profound and beautiful vocation, and the culture would reinforce that sensibility. They would not perceive motherhood to be a second-best option for those who lacked talent for other more Important Jobs. Young men would rise to the challenges that young women set for them, especially that of fathering children through their whole lives.
When a woman had an unexpected pregnancy, families, faith communities, and civic organizations would be ready to help. If today’s United States is any indicator, there would be more families ready to adopt than children who were adoptable.* Women in stressful pregnancies would receive the consistent message: We are ready to help. We will commit ourselves to fostering your health, your safety, your emotional well-being, your financial security, and your future happiness in relationships.And we will do the same for your child. We will help you keep and raise your child if you choose, but we will also help you choose to place your child for adoption so that you may be a gift to both a child and a new family.
Instead, we agitate for the right to murder the innocent. Rationalize it. Legalize murder as a norm.
We’re building a nation on the corpses of what should be her greatest asset. Imagine if we piled up their bones…
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